Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) can learn to harness his buried magical skills in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. The Fantastic Beasts 3 trailer shows Newt (Eddie Redmayne) handing a wand to Jacob as a gift from Dumbledore (Jude Law), even though Jacob is knowingly a Muggle, and the Harry Potter series has often explained how non-wizards can't practice magic. But according to J.K. Rowling, magic is much like any other talent, hence one can be born with it, or can discover and develop it later in life. This leaves a door open for Fantastic BeastsNo-Maj Jacob.

In Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, Newt pairs up with Jacob entirely by accident, as the two swap suitcases in New York. This gets Newt taken into MACUSA by Tina (Katherine Waterston) and Jacob bitten by a Murtlap. Eventually, Newt and Tina find Jacob, and Newt invites him into his magical suitcase, where he offers him treatment for the Murtlap bite. Newt also comments that Jacob seems to be having a more severe reaction to the bite, as Muggle DNA is slightly different from the wizard one. This connects to something J.K. Rowling said about wizard genes.

Related: JK Rowling Already Hinted At Queenie & Jacob's Fantastic Beasts Ending

J.K. Rowling stated on her website: "Squibs are rare; magic is a dominant and resilient gene." This confirms that wizard DNA is slightly different from Muggle one, but also that there must be recessive wizard genes in many Muggles (which explains why Muggle parents can have wizard children and vice versa). Jacob might have recessive wizard genes from further up the family tree, unbeknownst to him or his parents. If magic is like a talent (and can thus be discovered and perfected later in life), it's likely there is latent magical power within Jacob - Dumbledore wouldn't give him a wand for no reason. Although he is known to put people in danger frequently, Dumbledore is just as famous for his thorough, complex plans, and Jacob fighting alongside wizards in the war against Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) is surely not just a happy accident.

Newt Scamander offering wand to Jacob Fantastic Beasts 3

Many muggle-born wizards and witches only find out they have magical powers when they receive the invitation letter to Hogwarts. Perhaps some notice they can do unexplainable things (like Harry knew he could talk to snakes or Tom Riddle knew he could "make bad things happen to people who are mean to him"), but they don’t know they are wizards until they are informed of it. Similarly, Jacob might find the wizarding gene buried within after he receives a wand and is invited to fight alongside Newt and Dumbledore. Also, as not all wizards are equally powerful (with genes such as the Dumbledores' being exceptionally powerful), it's very likely Jacob's powers can never be brought to the level of a regular wizard's. However, Jacob's wand in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore proves there is magical power waiting to be discovered in him.

There’s another possible (albeit less likely) explanation for Jacob becoming magical in Fantastic Beasts 3: just as a part of Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) soul latched on to Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and gave him special magical powers (like Parseltongue), an external force could give Jacob the necessary amount of magic in order to wield a wand. But for this to happen, Dumbledore would have to know about (or even cause) this event, which is simply not as probable as Jacob having recessive wizard genes. Whichever the case, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is bound to explain Jacob wielding a wand.

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